Barca's celebration of the goal said it all as a screaming Pedro was engulfed by his teammates, it was a reaction of relief as much as joy. Even in the final stages this was a distinctly un-Barcelona like display.

While Barcelona maintain the upper hand in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie thanks to their two away goals, it was not a good night for the Spanish league leaders, who lost Lionel Messi to a hamstring injury at the half-time interval.

Both Ibrahimovic and Beckham angrily confronted the referee at the final whistle. "We all make mistakes, even the referee makes mistakes, we are all human," said Ibrahimovic. Beckham had a late chance to win the match for PSG with a free-kick just outside the box but curled his shot, towards the left-hand corner, drifted just past the post.

In order to complete the move, the 23-year-old, who has been capped six times, has reportedly agreed to waive any signing-on fee, which would have amounted to a considerable sum had he waited until the summer to depart.